G Balasubramanian, a 1998-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, has been appointed to Malé as the next High Commissioner of India to the Maldives, while Anurag Srivastava, a 1999-batch IFS officer, has been appointed as India’s next High Commissioner to Mauritius.

Balasubramanian was serving as the High Commissioner of India to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, an oil rich Afruican nation where again India has vital interests.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement said, “G. Balasubramanian, presently High Commissioner of India to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has been appointed as the next High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Maldives, and is expected to take up the assignment shortly.”

He will replace Munu Mahawar, who has been High Commissioner to Maldives since November 10, 2021.

A post-graduate in Public Administration, Balasubramanian joined the IFS in 1998. He has served in different capacities in Indian missions in Moscow, Dushanbe, Washington DC and Bangkok, including as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Bangkok and Moscow.

He was also the Deputy Permanent Representative of India to UNESCAP in Bangkok, according to the official website of the High Commission of India in Abuja, Nigeria.

Balasubramanian also served on the vital Pakistan desk in the MEA in New Delhi, as well as a Joint Secretary (Europe-West), again a fairly coveted posting.

Though the President of the Maldives, Mohammed Muizzu, had taken a markedly pro-China and anti-India stance in the past, he has of late made several overtures to New Delhi, and South Bloc hopes that a seasoned hand such as Balasubramanian will be able to take those positive moves further.

India and Maldives share ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious, and commercial links steeped in antiquity. India was among the first to recognise Maldives after its independence in 1965 and to establish diplomatic relations with the country, as per the MEA.

Maldives occupies a special place under the PM Modi government’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ Foreign Policy, which aims to bring stability and prosperity in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Also, both nations are key players in maintaining the safety and security of the IOR, thus contributing to India-led Security And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) vision.

Earlier this month, another seasoned diplomat, Srivastava, a 1999-batch IFS officer, was posted to Port Louis as India’s next High Commissioner to Mauritius, an island nation that has also emerged as a strategic player in the IOR.

Srivastava is currently serving as a joint secretary helming the Nepal-Bhutan division at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) headquarters. He will succeed incumbent K Nandini Singla.

According to a statement issued by the MEA on November 16, 2024 here, Srivastava is expected to take up the assignment shortly.

Prior to his appointment as joint secretary in the Nepal-Bhutan division in March 2021, he served as the spokesperson in the MEA for nearly a year. He also served as India’s ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union.

In his nearly 25-year-long career as a diplomat, he also served in many Indian missions abroad, including as the head of the political wing at the India’s High Commission in Colombo, and had a stint at the country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva.

In Colombo, Srivastava was closely involved in the formulation and implementation of India’s development projects in Sri Lanka. He has also held different positions in the foreign office in New Delhi, including in the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division.

Srivastava obtained degrees in engineering and business management followed by a brief stint in the corporate sector before joining the foreign service. He also has a postgraduate diploma in diplomatic studies from Oxford University.